


Saving Grace

by Orithain, Rina9294



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 07:54:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orithain/pseuds/Orithain, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rina9294/pseuds/Rina9294
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna’s grace was in a tree; where would Gabriel’s be hidden?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saving Grace

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in _Send Me an Angel_ , May 2011. Still available for purchase from fanzines.ashtonpress.net  
> Written before season 6 aired and completely AU for that.

The DVD traveled with Dean for a year before he consciously noticed it. During his months with Lisa, it was buried in the lower section of the Impala’s trunk along with the items he couldn’t bear to part with, the remnants of his life as a hunter. During that time, he rarely opened the locked compartment; it hurt to look at the guns, the knives, the rock salt. They reminded him of what he’d lost, the part of his life that this new, normal, existence couldn’t replace.

Once he had finally admitted, to both his and Lisa’s relief, that he wasn’t happy, the DVD somehow ended up in his duffle, always pushed aside as he reached for fresh clothes or the charger for his phone, never examined or even really looked at but always there.

The change came the night he was stuck in a motel in western New York. Trapped by snowfall that had taken out the cable but thankfully not the power, Dean sat on the bed, bored out of his mind, at least until he realized that the television had a DVD player bolted to it, and the temptation became too much.

Dean dug through his duffle until he found the DVD, and he put it into the player, starting it while he stripped down to his boxers and sprawled on the bed with the pillows mounded behind him to watch it. He flinched when Gabriel spoke to him at the beginning, reminded of how many had been lost in those hellish months, but rather than stopping it this time, he allowed the DVD to continue playing. He watched Gabriel getting it on with the hot blonde, and after a little while, he shoved his boxers off and started lazily jerking himself.

The movie was just as hot as some of his favorites, and Dean’s hand sped up as it progressed until he came hard shortly before the end of it. Sated and relaxed for the first time in a long while, he lay on the bed, panting as his breathing gradually slowed to normal, and listened to the final scene and then the music at the credits with his eyes closed.

The cheesy music died away, and the screen flared to white, a static-filled hiss spilling from the speakers only to be cut off by a thump and gasped out “oof” at the foot of the bed.

Dean immediately sat bolt upright, grabbing a gun from under the pillow and aiming it before he even had his eyes all the way open.

“What the fuck?!”

“Ow. That sucked.” A totally nude man looked up at Dean from the floor at the foot of his bed—a totally nude man who looked remarkably like the deceased archangel Gabriel.

“Who the fuck are you? Because newsflash, Gabriel’s dead!” The gun never wavered from its target.

“Was dead. How long has it been anyway?” The other man half sat up and looked around, frowning slightly. “Where’s Sam?”

Dean stared at him suspiciously, for the moment ignoring the questions. “How do I know you’re you?”

The man’s eyes narrowed as his gaze sharpened, then he burst into laughter. “You were jacking off to my movie, weren’t you? No wonder Sam isn’t here!”

Dean flinched, his face going cold and hard. “Sam’s trapped in Lucifer’s cage with him.”

Gabriel sat up fully at that, his expression turning flinty. “How long has it been, Dean?”

Dean barked a bitter laugh, accepting at least for the moment that Gabriel was who he appeared to be. “Since that? A little more than a year. A few weeks longer since you died.”

“You waited a fucking year to watch the damn DVD?” Gabriel roared, coming off the floor in one smooth move to loom over Dean, his anger causing the air to smell of ozone and sparks to crackle over their skin.

“Of course not. We watched your message right away,” Dean said, not looking in the least concerned by the outraged archangel standing over him. “But things pretty much went to hell after that, so excuse me if I didn’t feel like watching a fucking porno!”

“Well fuck.” Gabriel threw himself onto the bed beside Dean and stared at the ceiling, his concentration going somewhere else for a moment.

Dean watched him, waiting for an explanation. That was something he hadn’t missed about having angels following him around.

“Do you ever do anything that you’re expected to?” Gabriel finally asked, turning his head to look at Dean, not caring that both he and Dean were nude.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? If you’re bitching about Michael, archangel or no archangel, I’m going to clock you.”

“Bitching about Michael? I always bitch about Michael; he’s as much of an ass as Luci, just in a different way.” Apparently tired of half-information, Gabriel smacked Dean on the back of the head, then blinked. “Oh.” He appeared to be fighting the urge to break into laughter.

“What oh?” Dean demanded. “And I meant what happened to Michael.”

“I just realized that,” Gabriel soothed, rolling to his side and propping himself up on an elbow. “And while I feel bad that your brothers are trapped with them, the thought of _my_ brothers trapped together for hopefully all eternity is hilarious.”

“You really do have a sick sense of humor.”

Dean finally realized that they were both naked and glared. “Dude, you couldn’t bring clothes back with you?”

“Hello, my Grace was stuck in a DVD for a year until you watched the whole thing and let me out; I came back in the same state I was in there,” Gabriel sniffed. “It’s not my fault that you’re naked as well.”

“Wanna bet?” Dean muttered, and Gabriel burst into laughter.

“Glad to hear that I’m inspirational—or was it Candy?”

“Candy is very well named,” Dean said, avoiding a direct answer.

“Mmm, she was sweet,” Gabriel chuckled.

“And you would know since you spent a lot of time tasting her.”

“It doesn’t look like you had a problem with that.” Quicker than Dean could react, Gabriel reached out and dragged a finger through the semen on his stomach then brought the finger to his own mouth. “Mmm, sweet as well.”

“Hey!” Dean exclaimed, glaring, but the huskiness of his voice belied any anger he managed to inject into his expression.

“You arguing with that fact?”

“I don’t spend a lot of time tasting myself.”

“Your loss.”

Dean gawked at him. “You are seriously weird.”

“Takes one to know one,” Gabriel retorted.

“Fair enough.” Dean eyed him. “So, planning on getting dressed any time soon?”

Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes. “For a guy who strips off any chance he gets, you’re really worried about my nudity. Speaking of that, I wonder if I should see if everything works...”

“Not in my bed, you’re not!” Dean finally jerked the sheet over himself while glaring at the archangel whose weight made it more difficult.

Gabriel burst into laughter at that, rolling onto his back again and holding his sides as his mirth spilled from him, finally leaving him gasping for breath.

“What’s so damn funny?” Dean growled when he thought there was a chance of Gabriel actually hearing him.

“You,” the archangel sputtered. “You’re such a prude!”

“I am not! You take that back!” Dean glared; if there was one thing Dean Winchester wasn’t, it was a prude.

“Can’t when it’s the truth,” Gabriel shot back, tugging at the sheet Dean was clutching to emphasize his point.

“It’s not being a prude to not get naked in front of someone you’re not sleeping with,” Dean retorted.

“You weren’t getting naked; you were naked,” Gabriel pointed out, “and I came back that way, nothing I could do about it.”

“So we need to flaunt it?”

“I’m not flaunting it; I’m just lying here,” the archangel protested. “Are you flaunting it?”

“Showing this off is always flaunting it,” Dean retorted with a smirk.

“Then why are you complaining about me being in the same state?”

“Back to the not flaunting it part.”

Gabriel’s expression turned sharper, and his chin lifted slightly. “Dean, if I was flaunting it, there would be no doubt in your mind about it.”

Dean’s eyes darted down involuntarily, and he flushed. “Pretty full of yourself, aren’t you.” No sooner had the words left his lips than he grew redder, clearly wanting to snatch them back, much to Gabriel’s amusement.

“No, but I could be if I tried; want to see?” The last was added in an almost hopeful tone.

Dean’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “What, it grows and bends too?!”

Gabriel smirked.

“That’s just freaky!”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t do it if you could,” Gabriel snorted.

“Dude, that’s just another way of masturbating. I prefer company for sex.”

“There’s a shock.”

“What, you prefer solo to getting it on with someone else?” Dean asked, his disbelief clear.

“It can be amusing, besides, just what do you think that whole DVD was anyway?”

“Lots of sex with other people. The blond was pretty hot.”

“I created them; does that mean it’s masturbation as well?”

“Huh?” Dean looked surprised, finally loosening his grip on the sheet he’d still been trying to tug over himself. “They weren’t real?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes at the question, snapped his fingers, and the blond from the movie appeared next to the bed, licking her lips as she looked at Dean.

“Huh, guess not. So you can make anyone appear?” Dean eyed the archangel suspiciously.

The blond vanished, and Gabriel looked over at Dean expectantly. “Putting in an order?”

“I’m not into fakes,” Dean retorted.

“And just what are you into?”

Dean glanced down at his half hard cock and then gave Gabriel a wry glance, giving up the battle. “What do you think?”

Gabriel beamed a wide smile and, in a flash, was balanced over Dean on his hands and knees. “Not so much of a prude after all.”

“Nope.” Dean grinned up at him, his hands rising to rest on Gabriel’s hips. “So whatcha gonna do about it?”

“Put your recovery time to the test?” Gabriel suggested before dropping downward so that the length of his body rubbed against Dean’s.

“That sounds like a really good idea to me,” Dean approved, arching up beneath Gabriel to increase the friction.

“I’m full of them.”

“Any others you’d care to share?”

“Many,” Gabriel promised, balancing his weight on one hand while he slid the other down Dean’s hip to his thigh, making him gasp and his eyes fall half shut even as he continued to stare up at Gabriel.

“I’m liking them so far.”

“I knew you would,” Gabriel murmured, easing Dean’s leg up around his hip so that he could settle more firmly against him.

“No wonder you got out; you’re the only angel I’ve met with brains.” Dean smirked at Gabriel, rocking against him.

“Not going to argue that one bit,” Gabriel chuckled as he leaned in to nip at Dean’s lower lip.

“Nice dick too,” Dean moaned, causing the archangel to laugh again at the same time he dropped down to rub his length against Dean’s body, their cocks nestling together. The intense sensation caused Dean to shiver and curl his other leg around Gabriel’s hip, drawing them even closer together so that they could rock against each other.

Gabriel dragged one of his hands through Dean’s hair, tilting his head back so that he could get at Dean’s neck which he attacked with lips, teeth and tongue, causing Dean to moan and let his head fall back against the pillow, offering his throat to Gabriel. His hand moved to the archangel’s back, petting and exploring the broad expanse, and he squirmed, groaning at the sensations engendered by the movement.

“Mmm, sweet,” Gabriel sighed, the muscles in his back flexing under Dean’s palms as he spoke and his breath ghosting over the now damp flesh beneath his mouth before he licked a swipe up the firm length.

“You’re starting to make me think I’m going to give you cavities,” Dean muttered before catching his lower lip between his teeth and giving a full body shudder at Gabriel’s actions.

“Can’t get them, but if you decide you want to _fill_ a cavity, let me know.” The words were spoken against the underside of Dean’s jaw.

Dean shivered again and after a moment nodded slightly, his eyes remaining closed as he let himself simply enjoy what Gabriel was doing, something the archangel seemed to enjoy as well as he continued to touch and taste, slowly moving down Dean’s body, savoring as he went.

Dean let Gabriel do whatever he wanted, his hands moving restlessly over whatever part of him was easiest to reach at any given moment, and he moaned softly, obviously liking Gabriel’s actions.

Gabriel tilted his head enough to study Dean’s expression, and his lips curved into a smile against Dean’s ribs before he worked his way lower, cleaning the remains of the drying semen from his stomach, making Dean shiver beneath him. Dean’s hands slid into Gabriel’s hair, his fingertips gently kneading the scalp, and he bit his lower lip again, trying to restrain the sounds that wanted to escape him, something that Gabriel seemed just as determined to evoke as he swirled his tongue around Dean’s navel then flicked it out over the head of his cock.

Dean’s head fell back, and he groaned loudly, his back arching as he tried to push into Gabriel’s mouth. In response Gabriel sucked him down hungrily, at the same time cupping and rolling Dean’s balls between his agile fingers. Dean moaned and squirmed restlessly under the archangel, his fingers briefly tightening in Gabriel’s hair, and Gabriel hummed in response, the sound somehow multiplied as it vibrated around Dean’s shaft and through his body, making Dean jerk and cry out, the sensation more intense than anything he’d ever felt before.

Gabriel chuckled and hummed again, his hands caressing Dean’s thighs and down around them to cup his ass, kneading the firm muscled cheeks. Dean tensed very slightly for a moment before relaxing and squirming under Gabriel, enjoying his attentions. Gabriel pulled back to lick at the head of Dean’s cock, his tongue swirling around the firm flesh and delving against the small slit, lapping up every bit of precome available.

Dean shuddered, again combing his fingers through Gabriel’s hair, his eyes closed and his breath escaping him in shuddering pants, his universe narrowing to what the archangel was doing, which seemed to be attempting to drive him out of his mind. Gabriel dove in again, swallowing Dean’s length as his fingers pressed deeper into the crevice between his cheeks.

“God, Gabe,” Dean groaned. He let go of Gabriel to grab at the bed, both hands fisting in the sheets as he arched up to meet the sucking mouth, only to rock down again against Gabriel’s fingers.

Gabriel made a face against Dean’s crotch at the mention of God’s name but didn’t stop what he was doing, brushing a finger against Dean’s hole as he swallowed, his throat muscles rippling around Dean’s cock.

“Fuck, yeah, please,” Dean begged, writhing under Gabriel’s knowing touch, the archangel taking him up on the request and easing his finger into Dean’s ass, the digit suddenly slick with lubricant that hadn’t been there moments before.

“So good,” Dean moaned, his ass spasming around the digit, and Gabriel sucked harder and crooked his finger so that it rubbed over Dean’s prostate, making Dean cry out and jerk under him.

Gabriel pulled back and smirked as he licked his lips. “What do you want, Dean?” he purred.

“You.”

“Funny, that’s just what I want too.” A second finger joined the one pressed into Dean’s ass, and Gabriel’s tongue flicked out to swipe at the tip of Dean’s cock.

“Oh Jesus fuck, _now_ Gabe,” Dean nearly wailed.

The archangel was as still as a statue before suddenly his hands were bracketing Dean’s face as he pressed his slick length into Dean’s hole, groaning as the tight heat surrounded him.

Dean inhaled sharply, his entire body tensing at the entry, but although his erection flagged slightly, his grip on Gabriel’s shoulders would have prevented him drawing back even if he’d wanted to.

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow as he looked down at Dean and rolled his hips slightly. “First time?” he asked, the question more of a statement of fact.

Dean opened his mouth to deny it, met the archangel’s knowing gaze, and sighed instead. “Yeah, for this,” he admitted, slowly relaxing as he adjusted to Gabriel’s cock inside him.

“Saving yourself for the best, were you?” Gabriel asked, nipping at Dean’s lower lip as he began to move.

“You are such a jerk,” Dean muttered though he arched up to meet Gabriel’s every thrust.

“Yeah, but you like me anyway.”

“Yeah, I do.” Dean curled a hand around the back of Gabriel’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. Gabriel’s lips opened to invite Dean’s tongue inside, and he sucked on it even as he lengthened his thrusts, driving them both onward.

Dean moaned and hitched his legs up around Gabriel’s waist, allowing him to go even deeper on his next thrust, making Dean cry out, Gabriel swallowing his cry as they drove together. One hand groped downward, clasping Dean’s hip and holding him steady so that each thrust hit his prostate. Each hit drew a grasping moan from Dean, and he clutched Gabriel’s shoulders as he was driven over the edge, spasm after spasm of pleasure ripping through him.

Gabriel rode out the convulsions, and then his hips arched forward again in a handful of thrusts before he was coming, pleasure suffusing his expression and locking his muscles.

Long moments passed when Dean’s panting breaths were the loudest sound in the room, gradually slowing to a more normal rhythm. “Okay, yeah,” he mumbled, “should have tried that sooner.”

“In general or with me?” Gabriel asked.

Dean flushed, and he turned his face to the side, not answering, and Gabriel arched an eyebrow. “I don’t hear an answer...”

“Fuck you,” Dean grumbled.

“We can once you recover,” Gabriel assured him with a wink.

“Jesus, you’re going to kill me, but what a way to go,” Dean half laughed, half groaned.

“Nah, no point in that, is there? You hungry?” Gabriel asked, rolling off of Dean and stretching.

“I could eat a horse,” Dean admitted while admiring the show.

“In or out?” Gabriel queried.

Dean gawked at him a moment before realizing Gabe wasn’t suggesting getting fucked by a horse. “If we go out, we have to get dressed,” he pointed out. “Does it have to be takeout? ‘Cause I could really go for a steak and a loaded baked potato.”

Gabriel snorted even as he sat up, his legs crossed in front of him. Stretching his arms out in front of him, he rolled his shoulders before glancing down at Dean. “Takeout? Please,” he snorted, snapping his fingers, a delivery cart loaded with covered trays appearing beside the bed.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to impugn your angelic virility,” Dean retorted with a smirk, already sitting up and reaching for one of the trays that was emanating such enticing aromas.

“Good answer,” Gabriel snickered, waiting until Dean was done before grabbing the other tray, revealing a loaded hamburger and cheese fries with bacon.

“So are you a good instant cook, or are there people somewhere wondering what the fuck happened to their dinners?”

“I don’t steal from people, Dean,” Gabriel said indignantly.

“Gabe, the first time I met you, you pushed a guy out a window, _probed_ a fraternity jackass, and had a gator eat another guy. You’ll have to forgive me if I think a steak and burger are a little less than that.”

“They all deserved it.”

“And beating me up while pretending to try to kill me, Sam and Bobby?”

“I didn’t really hurt any of you,” Gabriel protested. “If I had just let you stake me, you wouldn’t have believed it!”

“Ha! You liked getting me beat up by girls!”

“Well, it was pretty hot,” the archangel admitted.

“Jerk.”

“Love you too, sunshine,” Gabriel chuckled before dragging a fry through the melted cheese on his plate and bringing it to his mouth.

Dean’s eyes widened, and he stared at Gabriel, who frowned and stared back at him. “What?” he demanded around his mouthful of food.

“Since when do you throw around love?”

“It was sarcasm, Dean; I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with it.”

Dean stuck his tongue out at the angel. “Maybe I should get a chance to see you being beaten up by girls,” he said, returning to their original subject, “so I can decide for myself if it’s hot.”

“I could arrange that if you really want to see it,” Gabriel shrugged before eating some more fries. “Blonde, brunette or redhead?”

Dean gawked at him. “Dude, you are seriously whacked. Why the hell would you let yourself get beaten up by anyone?”

“It’s sensation,” Gabriel tried to explain. “Stuck in a DVD for a year, remember? Matter of fact, that was a lot like being in Heaven—a lot of nothing.”

“That sounds like it seriously sucks. But weren’t you playing with the girls in there?”

“You ever done it 24/7 with the same person?” At Dean’s expression, Gabriel snorted. “Exactly.”

“Well, at least you didn’t have to marry her.”

Gabriel shuddered in response, and Dean chuckled. “Poor thing. I’m surprised you wanted sex at all after that.”

“I just needed a change of scenery.”

“You got that all right. So what’re you going to do now? Back to the Trickster gig?”

“What’s the point? My cover’s blown,” Gabriel sighed.

“Bobby and I... Oh, right, with upstairs. So you going to head back there and blow your horn on command again?”

“Blowing other things is more fun,” Gabriel smirked. “And nah, it seems like the little bro has things well in hand up there; he doesn’t need me coming in and knocking over the apple cart.”

“Still weird to think of Cas being pretty much in charge,” Dean said, “but better him than the way it was before with jerks like Zachariah and Michael running things. He gets us, mostly.”

“He likes you—you being humanity, that is—and Dad likes him, so he’s got a lot of weight to swing around.”

“I’m glad. He put up with a lot of shit and gave up a lot the last couple of years. He deserves some good now. I have to admit that I kind of miss seeing him around though.”

“I can send up a flare, get him down here if you want to talk.”

“Naw, he’s busy.” But then Dean frowned. “Do I still have those sigils on my ribs?”

“Yup,” Gabriel said after a moment’s concentration. “If I wasn’t looking at you, I wouldn’t know you were here.”

“Huh, that might explain the lack of communication from Cas. Remind him, will you, that he still has my cell number.”

Gabriel’s concentration shifted for a split second, then he grinned as Dean’s cell phone rang. “Done.”

“I didn’t mean you had to do it right this second, doofus,” Dean muttered as he crawled out of bed to retrieve his phone. “Cas?”

“Dean,” the angel said gravely. “Are you well?”

“I’m... getting by,” Dean said carefully. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten all about me what with being in charge up there.”

“You were making a new life for yourself; I thought that you would not want reminders of the old one.”

“Cas, you idiot, there’s no way I could ever forget my old life—which by the way is my current life again—and I wouldn’t want to either.”

“Then I am sorry for keeping apart. I will visit you when you are not occupied with Gabriel.”

Dean snickered. “You really think he’s going to hang around for long? Aside from apparently killing me over and over in some really weird ways for a few months, he seems to have the attention span of a gnat.” He smirked at Gabriel, who looked affronted.

“I do not!”

Dean’s smirk widened. “Are we voting?”

“Do you wanna bet on it?” Gabriel asked, his eyes narrowing.

Castiel cleared his throat over the phone. “I believe that I will leave the two of you to your bonding. It is good to speak to you again, Dean.”

“Keep in touch this time, Cas.”

Dean put his phone on the table and stretched out on the bed, grinning. “Go on, tell me one time you stuck with something more than a couple minutes.”

“Do you have an understanding of how old I really am?” Gabriel asked in return.

“Well, Death said he might be older than God; he didn’t remember. So that implies you’re younger than the universe,” Dean mused. “I dunno, a few million years?”

“So can you blame me for looking for new things?”

“Every five minutes? Yes. Make like Methos and take some courses.”

“Don’t worry, Dean, I’ve found a new hobby.”

“Oh hell, who are you going to torment now?”

Gabriel only smiled in answer, making Dean groan.

“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but what exactly is this new hobby?”

“You.”

Dean swallowed hard. “M—” His voice cracked, and he had to try again. “Me? What me? I’m not a hobby.”

“You are now,” Gabriel assured him.

Dean whimpered, and Gabriel patted his thigh. “There, there, we’ll have fun, promise.”

“You thought TVLand was fun!”

“It was!”

“You weren’t the one getting whacked in the balls!”

“Neither were you.”

“I nearly was!”

“But you weren’t,” Gabriel pointed out.

About to continue arguing, Dean paused to stare at him. “No, I wasn’t, was I. Funny how that worked out. Know how it happened that I managed to answer a question I didn’t understand in a language I don’t speak when Sam,” he barely hesitated over the name, “couldn’t?”

“No idea,” Gabriel said brightly.

“Uh huh.” Dean continued to eye him suspiciously. “Sam got hit, Sam got turned into a car, Sam got VD,” Dean had to snicker at that last, “but aside from getting shot once, nothing happened to me aside from getting laid. Playing favorites, Gabe?”

“Herpes,” Gabriel pointed out. “Sam had herpes. I’d already killed you a couple hundred times; I figured you needed a break.”

“Herpes is a form of VD, Gabe; even I know that. And thanks, I think.”

“I’m being precise; taking a drug for the clap won’t do much good for herpes,” Gabriel laughed. “Oh, and you’re welcome.”

“So you’re going to stick to not killing me, right?”

“It got boring after a while. Only so much you can do with a closed environment,” Gabriel shrugged. “So yeah, killing you is out of my system.”

“Gee, thanks,” Dean snorted. “You’re still kind of a jerk, but you do have a few good points, I guess.”

“Aww, you do care.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that was me pledging my undying love. Whatever.”

“Or at least your undying interest in sex.”

Dean smirked. “Yeah, you are pretty good at that.”

“Ooo, a compliment from Dean Winchester, I am impressed.”

“You should be. I don’t give them to just anyone and not usually to someone who’s killed me.”

“I brought you back; how many others can say that?”

“More than can say they killed me a couple hundred times!”

Gabriel just looked at him, raised one hand, and made “wah wah” motions with it.

“Really, really hate you a lot right now,” Dean grumbled, but even he was aware of the lack of impact to the statement while lying naked in bed with the subject.

“You’re cute when you grumble,” Gabriel snickered, setting his now empty food tray back on the cart and climbing out of bed to pull back the curtain and look out at the snow-shrouded world beyond the window.

“Nice view,” Dean murmured. He set his tray on the cart as well and leaned back against the pillows, content to relax and watch Gabriel for the moment.

“I like snow,” Gabriel stated without looking back though his chuckle said he knew what Dean had meant.

“It’s cold, wet, and white.” Dean shrugged. “I never really got into the whole winter wonderland thing.”

“Aww, it’s fun to play in,” Gabriel coaxed. “We could go make snow angels.”

“You did not just say that,” Dean groaned.

“Or a snowy angel.” Gabriel turned and grinned, his eyes alight with delighted mischief. “C’mon, Dean, it’ll be fun. You do remember how to have fun, don’t you?”

Dean stared at him, eyebrows raised, and then looked down at himself significantly, naked amidst the tangled sheets.

“Fun other than in between the sheets.”

Dean groaned. “You’re not going to give up till we’re making snow angels, are you?”

“You’ll have fun,” Gabriel wheedled, “I promise.”

“If I get frostbite, it’s all your fault.”

“I think managing to protect your delicate bits is well within my powers.”

“You just want to play with them again,” Dean snorted. He finally got up and stretched, then padded over to stand next to Gabriel at the window, the archangel slinging an arm around his waist. Suddenly they were both outside, dressed warmly against the winter storm, and Gabriel was tilting his face up to the skies and laughing as snow pelted him.

Dean groaned, his shoulders hunching against the cold, and he gave Gabriel a dirty look. “You could give a guy a little warning, you know,” he grumbled, but his heart wasn’t in it. Gabriel’s pleasure in the moment was obvious, and it was hard to be pissed at a guy who looked as delighted as a little kid in a candy store.

“If I make you too warm now, you’ll end up being over-heated later,” Gabriel explained, tugging at the knit hat on Dean’s head and making him roll his eyes.

“I really don’t think that’s an issue. It’s freezing out here.” Dean stamped his feet and blew on his hands, but it was really just for show since Gabriel had equipped him with warm boots and gloves. If anything, he was actually far more comfortable than he usually was in the winter since he tended to dress for mobility in hunting, not warmth.

“Okay, so what, you wanna build a snowman?” he asked with the air of a man humoring his companion.

“Nope,” Gabriel broke to the left, scooped up a double handful of snow and hit Dean full in the face with it.

“Oh, you are so going down,” Dean vowed once he wiped the snow from his face. He dodged to the side, quickly grabbed up some snow, and threw the ball at Gabriel, who dodged it agilely and tossed more in his direction, the clump of snow managing to slide down under Dean’s collar.

Dean yelped, dancing around as he tried to get the snow out, and once he did, he changed tactics, turning and charging Gabriel to tumble them both into a snow bank with the angel on the bottom. White powder exploded around them, settling over Dean but somehow not landing on Gabriel.

“Quit cheating,” Dean ordered, but he was laughing, and he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get out of the snow bank—or off Gabriel.

“How is it cheating when there are no rules?” Warm hands slid up under Dean’s jacket, stroking over his back and sides.

“No using angelic powers to get an advantage over me,” Dean said, shifting to settle more comfortably on top of Gabriel.

“Are you saying a little bit of snow is an advantage?”

“It’s the principle of the thing.”

“Are you telling me to play fair?”

“Finally, he gets it!”

Gabriel stuck his tongue out then pulled Dean in for a kiss, the snow settling around them with a soft thump.

“Try to remember that I need to breathe,” Dean said between kisses as more snow slowly covered them, suspiciously warm against his back.

“Are you asking me to make us an igloo?” Gabriel chuckled.

“Just asking you not to smother me. Though I’ve never done it in an igloo.”

“You wanna?” Gabriel asked brightly.

“As long as you guarantee me no frostbite.”

“The only one biting will be me—unless you want to as well.”

“Sounds like fun.” Dean grinned and leaned down to rub his nose against Gabriel’s. “Just getting into the spirit,” he informed the angel.

“So you’re Nanook of the North?” Gabriel’s hands moved over Dean’s back, and suddenly the fall of snow over them stopped, and the sound of the storm grew more muted.

Dean raised his head to look around, taking in the decent-sized enclosure and the thick furs now beneath Gabriel. “Huh. Not bad,” he decided. “And it’s warmer than I would have expected for an oversized snow fort. Or is that your doing?”

“Told you I wouldn’t let you freeze your important bits off.”

“My hero.” Dean hesitated, looking down at Gabriel and finally asked the question that had been buzzing in his brain for a while. “Don’t you need to check in upstairs?”

“Why? Trying to get rid of me already?” Gabriel asked.

“No, you’re kind of entertaining to have around. I was just wondering if you’re going to vanish unexpectedly because someone’s pissed that you missed roll call.”

“No clue,” Gabriel shrugged. “I figure if they want me, they’ll call me. Don’t know if I’ll answer or not, depends on who is doing the calling.”

Dean chuckled. “So being resurrected hasn’t reformed you?”

“Let’s see, I came back, and the first thing I did was to have sex with you. Nope, no reformation here.”

“I think I like your idea of not reforming,” Dean chuckled. “So, we’re not going to have any interruptions here. And we have this nest of furs...”

Gabriel’s grin brightened the interior of the igloo. “Then we’d better put them to use.

And put them to use they did, enjoying each other and then relaxing until Dean bolted upright with a shriek when the melting ice roof above them dripped on his bare back. Gabriel’s almost maniacal laughter filled the igloo, and suddenly Dean was on his feet and fully dressed.

“Oh, shit, your _face_!” the archangel howled.

Dean glared. “You bastard, you did that on purpose! Igloos don’t drip, and you could easily have made this properly!”

“Aww, come on, you’re warm now... and it didn’t drip until we were done,” Gabriel cajoled from where he still lay nude in the snow.

“I notice it didn’t drip on _you_ ,” Dean growled.

“You were on top of me; how could it?” Gabriel smirked and squirmed in the snow, then there was a loud “whump” and explosion of flakes from around them. When the air cleared, the archangel was standing beside Dean, fully dressed. “Ready to go in?”

“Yeah, it’s cold out here, and I could use a shower.” Dean eyed him.

For the moment ignoring the comment, Gabriel turned to admire his handiwork. “Nice.”

“Size queen,” Dean muttered, eyeing the snow angel with its oversize wings that was imprinted in the snow where Gabriel had lain moments before.

“Anatomically correct,” the archangel smirked. “I’d prove it, but, you know, don’t want to burn your eyes out.”

“Whatever.” Dean rolled his eyes. “I’m going inside.” He marched over to the door, only to come to a halt when he discovered that it was still locked, neither of them having opened it to exit the room. “Gabe!”

“Yes?” Gabriel asked, opening the door from the inside of the room and tweaking Dean’s nose when he started.

Dean growled at him. “Smartass.” He pushed past, shedding his clothes as he went, and made a beeline for the shower, calling over his shoulder, “Hurry up if you want to share.”

“Oh yeah!” In a flash, Gabriel was in there with him, and steaming hot water was pouring from the showerhead in a somehow much larger bathroom.

“Okay, you’re pretty useful to have around,” Dean decided, looking around the shower. “Especially since you can wash my back,” he added with a chuckle as he turned.

“And then I’ll put you to bed, and the Magic Fingers will run all night,” Gabriel cooed as he stepped under the water, emitting a groan that was almost sexual as he did so.

“Just the fingers? Damn, you wear out fast.”

Gabriel only smirked at that comment, pulling Dean into the clouds of steam filling the shower, then fulfilling all the promises he’d made regarding putting Dean to bed.

 

 

 

“I heard they’re having a werewolf problem down near New Orleans, and I’m going to head down.” Dean looked at the archangel sprawled comfortably in the tangled bed. “You comin’ with?”

“Are they the hot, half-naked type of werewolves?” Gabriel asked hopefully as he pushed up to his elbows and yawned.

“They’re the hairy, pissy, man-eating type of werewolves.” Dean watched Gabriel, enjoying the sight.

“Then I’m in.” Gabe bounced up off the bed and was clothed before his feet hit the floor. “If they were the hot, half-naked type, I would have said leave ‘em alone to play with each other, but these...” He cracked his knuckles. “Bring it on.”

“Weird, definitely weird.” Dean continued packing his things—not that he’d unpacked all that much—and paused after removing the DVD from the player. “Hey, is this just blank now?”

“Why? You wanna watch it again?”

Dean grinned. “It was pretty hot...”

“Sorry, DVD’s blank, but I can make you another one if you’d like.”

“How ‘bout we make one together instead?”

“Mmm, kinky. Me likey.” Gabriel rubbed his hands together as he grinned. “But let me guess, that has to wait until we take care of the werewolves.”

“Think of it as a reward for a job well done.”

“I’ve never been a wait to get the reward type of guy.”

“Learn.”

Gabriel’s pout was pure camp, making Dean snort out a laugh even as he smacked the back of his head.

“Don’t waste your time; I learned to ignore Sam, so you don’t have a chance.”

“Need I remind you that I’ve had a _lot_ more practice at it?”

“I’m immune. Besides, you already know you’re getting what you want eventually, so quit it.”

“Nag, nag, nag, let’s get going then. People to save, werewolves to kill, beds to break...”

“Food first!” Dean protested, slinging his bag over his shoulder and giving the room a quick once over to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Do I get to drive while you eat?” Gabriel asked as he snugged a knit hat he’d created down on Dean’s head then danced back out of the way of his swing.

“In your dreams. You can eat something too.”

“Hey, I thought you were in a hurry to save people from the ravening werewolves,” Gabriel said, pushing open the door to a parking lot that was covered in a white blanket that sparkled in the bright morning sunlight.

“Yeah, but I also need to save my car,” Dean informed him.

Gabriel looked around the deserted parking lot, snapped his fingers, and a whirl of wind surrounded the Impala, leaving it gleaming. “Better?”

“Nice. You’ll get a reward for that later.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“I had a feeling you would.” Dean grinned at him. “Now get in the car. I’m hungry.”

“Why does that not surprise me?” Gabriel snorted.

“Maybe because I already said so. In. Sit!”

Gabriel waited until Dean was in the car before appearing beside him, wearing a prominent leather collar and bright tag. “Woof,” he panted.

“Mmm, nice.”

“Got a treat for me?”

“Not till tonight.”

Gabriel pouted outrageously at that, the expression lasting until they found an open diner and ate.

 

 

 

“This driving thing is really boring,” Gabriel sighed several hours later.

“It’s how human beings get around.”

“I repeat, _boring_ ,” Gabriel sighed, snapping his fingers and sending the Impala from the frozen interstate to a highway that threaded through the bayou outside of New Orleans.

“That better not hurt my car!”

“Just why would you think that would hurt your car?”

“I don’t know what your weird jumps do.”

“Archangel,” Gabriel reminded him. “They don’t do anything except what I want them to.”

“Trickster. You might want them to do weird shit.”

“Weird sexual shit?”

“You really have a one-track mind.”

“You’re the one who brought it up!” Gabriel protested.

“I did _not_ mention sex!”

“Fine, what would you rather talk about?”

“Werewolves and killing them.”

“What’s to talk about? Shoot them in the heart with a silver bullet. Boom! No more werewolf.”

“They tend to get a little cranky about it. And so do the local authorities who see dead people, not werewolves.”

“If you’re going to be such a Debbie Downer, what’s the point of doing this?”

Dean stared at him. “What are you, two?”

“Add a whole bunch of zeros after that and you’d be close.”

“Sounds like a bank account I’d like to have.”

“We can talk about that later,” Gabriel promised. “So, flushing out werewolves without getting you arrested...”

“Although, if I did get arrested, would you give me conjugal visits?”

“Uh uh uh, no talking about sex,” Gabriel warned. “Hulking, hairy werewolf time.”

“Good boy, you _can_  
learn.” Dean gave him a wicked smirk.

“You’re so cute when you get all superior,” Gabriel snickered.

“I’m not cute!”

“Well, I can’t call you hot right now, so cute will have to do.”

“Stick to hot,” Dean advised.

“Or what, you’ll spank me?”

“You’d like it too much.”

“Never know until you try it.”

“Fine, we can try that tonight.”

“Whoo yeah!” Gabriel’s cry rang through the car and the bayou around them. “So, okay, what’s up with the werewolves? Any idea how many of ‘em there are?”

“It’s not like anyone took a census, Gabe. I know it’s werewolves from the reports about the deaths, and it sounds like there should be more than one, but other than that, your guess is as good as mine. And I thought the sonsabitches were solitary!”

“Maybe one got lonely; wanted some company.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “You really are weird.”

“Should make you feel right at home.”

Dean had to laugh. “Yeah, it sorta does.”

 

 

 

“I love swamps; they’re just so swampy,” Gabriel said cheerfully hours later as he and Dean trudged through the edge of the bayou, their steps lit by the full moon.

Dean stopped in his tracks, ignoring the chilly night air, the muck that was oozing over the tops of his work boots, and the generally crappy nature of his surroundings in order to stare at the archangel. “You are really, really weird.”

“I enjoy all of Dad’s creations,” Gabriel protested. “Why is that weird?”

“This is a muddy version of _hell_ ,” Dean growled.

“You know better than that.”

“Not literally, you jackass, but it’s cold, mucky, filled with man-eating or poisonous reptiles... miserable!”

Gabriel gave him a sidelong glance, and suddenly Dean was warmer. "If there were any snakes or alligators in the area, they're gone now."

“Okay, you’re useful to have around.” Dean grabbed hold of Gabriel’s shirt and yanked him in for a quick, hard kiss before letting go again.

“Aww, thanks, honey,” Gabriel chuckled before stilling, his head cocked at an angle as he listened. “Heads up.”

Dean flicked the safety off his gun and moved closer to Gabriel, half turning so they were back to back. “Are they...” he started before a howl cut him off, making the question moot.

“Fido sounds hungry.”

“Great, I’m not kibble.”

“Mmm, but you are good to chew on.” The howls drew nearer, and Gabriel yawned. “Sounds like three of them.”

“I’d really be happier if you wouldn’t _yawn_ about supernatural creatures that want to _eat_ me!” Dean growled.

“Oh, they aren’t going to eat you. Honestly, Dean...” Gabriel trailed off as the werewolves stalked out of the swamp, snarling at them. “Pick which one you want.”

“Pick which one...” Dean trailed off in a wordless sputter even as he shot one, a perfect heart shot.

“Nice shot!” Gabriel applauded before reaching out and catching the other two werewolves by the arm as they charged them. There was a flare of power that was almost palpable, and the two creatures lay on the ground in smoldering heaps.

Dean stared at the remnants for a long moment before his green eyes rose to fix on Gabriel. “Nice holy fire.”

The archangel beamed at the compliment. “Thanks.”

“And I needed to be here why exactly?”

“It was your hunt. If it makes you feel better, next time I’ll just sit quietly and do nothing.”

“Uh no, that’s okay, I really don’t mind not nearly dying.”

It took Gabriel a second to parse out what Dean had said, but when he did, he nodded and grinned. “Just no holy fire, eh?”

“It seems like a bit of overkill.” Dean looked around. “So, got any instant transportation mojo?”

“I could do that.” Gabriel raised his hand to snap his fingers, and suddenly they were back at the car.

“I could get used to that,” Dean decided.

“Hey now, I can’t make it too easy for you!”

“Less time wasted before we can go find a hotel room,” Dean pointed out.

“Who needs a hotel room?” the angel asked, waggling his eyebrows as he spoke.

“Car’s kind of small.”

“That’s not what I heard about you and Anna.”

“Jealous?”

“She’s dead; I’m here.”

Dean snickered. “I’m getting the feeling that if she wasn’t already dead, she would be soon.”

“Nah,” Gabriel grinned, leaning against the side of the Impala. “Threesomes are fun.”

“Huh.” Dean thought about that for a moment. “Too bad she went all psycho killer on us then.”

“Sucks for her.” Gabriel pulled two bottles of beer out of the air and offered one to Dean.

“Wasn’t too great for us either,” Dean pointed out, taking the beer. “I could have lived without the face to face with your dickwad brother.”

“Hey, think about me, I lived with that crap for a long time. Lucifer, Michael, and Raphael is just as bad, as you well know.”

“Sucks to be you.”

“Nah.” Gabriel took a long swig from his bottle. “I’m here, they aren’t. It’s all good.”

“Good point. Though come to think of it, Raphael’s still around someplace, isn’t he?” Hopefully someplace where Dean would never have to encounter him again—aside from Castiel and Gabriel, he pretty much hated all angels.

“I meant here as in on Earth; he’s out there somewhere probably trying to take over the place since Dad’s still AWOL and there’s nobody else around.”

“Great,” Dean grunted. “Cas said something about sort of being the new sheriff in town, but I guess that doesn’t amount to a row of beans against an archangel.”

“Not to Rafe, though Dad brought Cas back twice; that counts for a lot up there.”

“Yeah, sorta sounds like Cas is the new favorite son.”

“That gives him an edge—at least if the gang isn’t just pissed about Dad ignoring them.”

“They should be used to it by now. The only difference is that sometimes He doesn’t ignore everything.”

Gabriel shrugged as he drained his bottle, causing it to vanish as he flicked it away into the night. “Maybe I should check in with little bro, see how he’s doing. I bet he’d like to see you too.”

Dean’s eyes widened comically. “You want me to go with you to Heaven?” he almost squeaked.

“Urmm, no, I’m not getting anywhere near that place. I figured we could give Cas another ring, get him down to visit.”

“Ah, okay, that works. But again, the car’s a little small for family reunions.”

“So let’s get to the motel—unless you want him to meet us on Bourbon Street...”

Dean snickered. “Let’s not do that to Bourbon Street. He has a bad effect on partiers and hookers.”

“Back to the hotel then, Jeeves.” Gabriel appeared in the Impala’s front passenger seat, stretching his feet out in front of himself and squirming to get comfortable.

“I am so not your servant,” Dean informed him, but clearly they weren’t going anywhere unless he drove, so he got started. “You can call Cas once we get there.”

“Yes, dear, I’ll call and see if Cas can come out and play once you’re cleaned up.”

 

 

 

Dean stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, then yelped when he turned to face the fogged up mirror. “Damn it, Cas, we talked about personal space!”

“Gabriel said that you wished to talk to me, and I came. It is good that he was not destroyed,” Castiel said seriously.

“Yes, it is, but you already knew I wasn’t, so why are you in the bathroom with me when I’m wearing a towel?”

Castiel frowned in confusion. “You weren’t what?”

“I wasn’t destroyed. Shouldn’t you be hovering over your brother, welcoming him back instead of perving on me?”

“Gabriel said that you wanted to speak to me,” Castiel repeated. “I am not perving, but I will go wait with him if it makes you more comfortable.”

“We both just wanted to say hi in person and see how you were doing,” Dean said, shaking his head before stalking out of the bathroom to get clean clothes from his bag. He glanced at the two angels, shrugged, and dropped the towel to dress.

A shrill wolf whistle filled the air, and Gabriel watched avidly from where he was sprawled out on the bed. “You two have fun in there?”

“Dean reminded me of the need for personal space again.”

“Not everything’s about sex, Gabe.”

“You did believe that I was perving on you, Dean,” Castiel commented.

“Nothing wrong with perving,” Gabriel assured him. “So, how’s things going up top?”

“It is... difficult,” Castiel admitted. “Although things were corrupt before, at least they were organized. Now, it’s chaos, nearing civil war. Several weapons have vanished.”

Gabriel blinked at that. “Someone looted the armory?”

Castiel nodded, and Dean looked from one to the other.

“What kind of weapons are we talking about here?”

“Biblical ones,” Castiel said quietly.

“What the hell do they think they can do with those?”

Dean frowned. “We’re talking Old Testament bad here, aren’t we?” He sighed. “Fuck, wasn’t the apocalypse enough for those idiots?”

“Apparently not,” Gabriel groaned, and Castiel shook his head.

“Raphael is rallying support; I believe that he wants to seize control of Heaven and finish what was begun last year.”

“Well, fuck that shit,” Dean growled. “He’s an ass. You two have to stop him.”

“You do remember just what happened the last time I fought with one of my brothers, don’t you?”

“Oh come on, you have to be better than _Raphael_.”

“Raphael is cunning,” Castiel said seriously, causing Gabriel to stare at him, his mouth hanging open.

“And I’m _not_?”

“It’s that whole Trickster thing,” Dean observed confidentially to Castiel. “So, you can take him, right?” he continued, turning back to Gabriel.

“I really hate you,” Gabriel muttered. “Both of you!”

“I’ll get pompoms if you like.”

Now it was Castiel’s turn to stare. “Is this some strange mating ritual that I am unaware of?”

Dean snickered. “Naw, Gabe’d be the one in the skirt then. This is just cheering my favorite archangel on.”

“If it is of assistance, you are my favorite archangel as well,” Castiel said formally.

“Aww gee, my own pep squad; go me,” Gabriel snorted.

“See, how can you lose?”

Castiel opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and remained silent.

“So, am I supposed to skewer Rafe or just give him a stern talking to?”

“Well, he’s a jackass, so I’m all in favor of skewering, but we don’t want the wrath of God to fall on you, so only if he tries to skewer you too,” Dean decided.

“Plus there’s the fact that he’s our brother.”

Castiel nodded at that. “Killing should be the last resort.”

“Most of your brothers suck,” Dean informed them.

“Not arguing with that, but they’re still family.”

“No family dinners with the in-laws,” Dean informed him, making Castiel’s eyebrows rise.

“You have formally bound yourselves?”

“What!? No!” Dean sputtered.

“Oh, the look on your face,” Gabriel chortled, collapsing back on the bed. “It’s just sex, Cas. Good times are had by all.”

“Oh yeah,” Dean had to agree with that.

Castiel tilted his head very slightly, regarding Gabriel curiously. “Sex is really that good?”

“Would I lie to you, bro?”

“Perhaps I should try it.”

“It works better if you don’t freak the girl out first,” Dean advised him.

“Here.” Gabriel waved a hand in Castiel’s direction. “Now you have the basics.”

Dean stared. “You didn’t.”

“That seems very uncomfortable,” Castiel observed, apparently reviewing the information Gabriel had dumped in his head.

“Nah, not once you get into it,” Gabriel assured him.

“Great, the angelic Dr. Ruth.”

“Hey, I’m just helping the little bro out.”

“Your idea of help is very different from most people’s.”

“I’m not most people, am I?”

“That’s an understatement,” Dean snorted.

“He’s not a person; he’s an angel,” Castiel pointed out.

“That’s not my fault,” Gabriel pouted.

“I don’t think he was blaming you for it, Gabe.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes in response, and Dean chuckled, moving over to sit next to him and give him a quick kiss.

“Are you going to copulate now?” Castiel asked, causing Gabriel to burst into laughter.

Dean gawked at him. “No! That’s not something I do for an audience!”

Gabriel’s laughter prevented him from speaking, but Castiel nodded seriously. “I will remember that.”

Dean just groaned, falling back onto the bed and staring at the ceiling.

“Turn about, Dean,” Gabriel laughed.

“I like it better when it’s aimed at you.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Because you’re not an idiot.”

“Which is why I’m really not thrilled about fighting my brother, but I’m going to which does make me an idiot.”

Dean propped himself up on his elbows to look at Gabriel. “I hate to say it, Gabe, but I think it makes you a hero.”

Ignored for the moment, Castiel nodded.

“Rah, rah, go me. So, do we want to do this now or draw out the suspense?” Gabriel looked from Dean to Castiel as he spoke.

“What, you just going to call him out?” Dean sat up, looking a little uneasy at the idea of an angelic battle in the hotel room.

“Hrmm, do I want to be the Jets or the Sharks?” Gabriel mused. “And no, I’m not going to do it here; I don’t think the kind people of New Orleans will take kindly to another natural disaster.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Dean agreed. “So... how’re you going to do it?”

Gabriel sat up and shrugged. “Find somewhere quiet and give him a call, I suppose.”

“I’m going with you.”

“And I,” Castiel agreed.

“So which of you is Maria and which is Anita?”

Dean stuck his tongue out at him.

“Mmm, with that tongue action, you’re definitely Anita,” the archangel snickered while Castiel simply looked lost. “ _West Side Story_ , great play, decent movie, we’ll have to watch it some time.”

Dean reached back, grabbed a pillow, and whacked Gabriel over the head with it though their reality shifted and the pillow struck an angel who was standing in the middle of Death Valley.

Dean looked around, still clutching the pillow. “Where are we exactly?”

“Death Valley, California,” Castiel said quietly as he studied the moon-silvered landscape.

“We needed privacy; this gets us it.”

“Raphael will suspect why you are summoning him,” Castiel said. “He will not come unready.”

“He might think I just want to talk. After all, I’ve been gone for a while; maybe I just want to catch up... Yeah, I didn’t think either of you would buy it.” Gabriel flexed his hands, cracking his knuckles, and looked around them. “I guess you two will have to handle them then; I doubt he’ll come in guns a blazing, so we should be all right to start. Dean, they won’t know you’re here, so if you want to find, I dunno, a rock to get behind or something...”

Dean just stared at him at first, eyebrows winging upward. “Are you naturally a jackass, or do you have to work at it?”

“Oh, I work at it,” Gabriel promised, blowing him a kiss. “Fine, no rocks, just give me space, both of you, okay?”

Dean paced forward, fisted both hands in Gabriel’s shirt, and yanked him flush against Dean to kiss him. “ _Don’t_ get yourself killed.”

When Dean and Castiel backed away, Gabriel looked toward the sky, sighed, and called out, the harsh syllables booming across the desolate plain and through the cosmos.

“He is calling Raphael’s true name,” Castiel murmured to Dean, his blue eyes wide and awe-filled at the sight of Gabriel. Though the archangel kept his human form to protect Dean, to another angel he blazed with glory.

“You summoned me, Brother?” Raphael still wore the same host he’d used for some time, not seeing any reason to change it while it served him.

“What? No ‘welcome back’?” Gabriel asked, giving an exaggerated pout. “No ‘good to see you’?”

“How is it you’re alive?”

“Would you believe sex?”

Raphael stared.

“No? Okay, let’s just say that Lucifer wasn’t as smart as he thought. And speaking of that, what is going on upstairs?”

“Our Father still has not returned, and in His absence, factions are jockeying for control. As the last remaining archangel in Heaven, _I_ should lead.”

“Why?” Gabriel asked curiously.

Raphael stared again. “We are archangels. All others must follow us.”

“So you don’t think, oh, I don’t know, an angel who Dad brought back from being angelic pizza sauce—twice—might have something worth listening to?”

Dean glanced at Castiel, who remained silent.

“He’s not an archangel.”

“So what? I’m an archangel; are you saying that makes me qualified to lead Heaven while Dad’s on His golf outing?”

Raphael snorted. “No, but still better you than him.”

“Actually, better him than either of us.”

Dean had to work not to burst into inappropriate laughter at the look of horror on Castiel’s face.

“Why have you summoned me, Gabriel?”

The shorter archangel sighed and ran a hand over his stubbled chin. “Because I knew you were just going to be like this, Rafe. Dean is right; we are all dicks.”

“You quote one of these hairless apes to me, Brother?” Raphael demanded in disgust. “You have fallen even farther than I feared.”

“I think you’re just pissed because you’ve always played second fiddle to Michael.”

“Pride is not my sin,” Raphael snapped.

“Then what is? Righteousness? C’mon, Rafe, bend a little; what’s the point of going through this again?”

“I don’t care about these humans,” Raphael sneered. “But I will retrieve the stolen weapons, and I will take charge in Heaven.”

“Fuck,” Gabriel sighed to himself before meeting his brother’s gaze squarely. “Don’t do this, Raphael.”

“You have become less, contaminated by these humans.”

Castiel suddenly caught hold of Dean, wrapping himself around him, his wings shielding them both.

“If it had made me less, I wouldn’t be here, would I?” Gabriel asked, his chin going up as he watched his brother.

Raphael stared at him, his wings flaring into sight and his grace almost visible around him. Gabriel drew in a deep breath before his jaw firmed, and he met Raphael’s gaze, his own wings mantling above him.

“Raphael, we’re all that’s left. Don’t do this,” he begged.

Raphael’s only response was to make his sword appear in his hand, and then he attacked Gabriel, the other archangel leaping backwards out of the range of Raphael’s strike. His own sword appeared as he deflected blow after blow, the ringing of their blades echoing across the desolate valley.

Raphael continued his attack, perhaps surprised that Gabriel continued to parry his every stroke, but despite his millennia as the Trickster, Gabriel was still an archangel, with all the power and glory that was inherent in that state. If Raphael regretted his actions, however, no sign of it showed in his demeanor.

Gabriel’s expression, however, was filled with sorrow, and when they closed on each other, their swords locking together, he looked up at the other archangel, wondering if this was how Lucifer had felt. “Raphael, don’t make me do this.”

“Then submit and follow me.”

“He is glorious,” Castiel murmured to the human sheltered within the embrace of his wings. “No one has seen Gabriel like this in countless ages.”

“I think I’ll just keep my head down, thanks,” Dean muttered, tensing at each blow the archangels dealt each other.

“Submit? I didn’t know you were into bondage, Rafe,” Gabriel jibed, forcing Raphael back a step, keeping him away from Castiel and Dean.

“You are perverse!” Raphael seemed to redouble his efforts but with no more effect.

“I prefer being called a pervert.” Gabriel smirked as he spoke though an age-old sadness darkened his eyes as if he had already seen the result of this battle and was anguished by it.

Raphael made a sound of disgust and put everything he had into his next attack, Gabriel sliding past it, his sword ending up pressed to the hollow of Raphael’s throat.

“It’s over. You’re bested, Raphael, and it is known.”

“I will not yield to you, Gabriel,” Raphael snapped, twisting away and attempting to stab Gabriel at the same time. Anticipating the maneuver, Gabriel rose into the air, his sword glinting in the bright moonlight as he thrust downward, skewering Raphael through the throat.

A tear rolled down Castiel’s cheek as he watched Gabriel, the archangel standing unmoving as Raphael’s grace burst forth in an explosion that seared the imprint of his body and wings on the cracked desert floor. His sword vanished, and he stared at his empty hands before slowly crouching, his head bowed.

Castiel’s wings vanished, and Dean hesitantly raised his head. One look at Gabriel and he moved to his side, resting a hand on the archangel’s shoulder to offer comfort he wasn’t sure Gabriel would accept.

“Well,” Gabriel said, his voice hoarse and broken, “that was worth coming back for.”

Dean crouched down too and slid an arm around Gabriel’s shoulder, hugging him. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, knowing it wouldn’t help, but there was nothing else he could say. Gabriel was the only one who could have done what needed to be done, but that wasn’t going to make him feel any better.

“You’re sorry, I’m sorry, Castiel over there is sorry; doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, does it? We do what we have to in the end.” Gabriel shuddered and finally leaned into Dean’s touch. “We all offer our brothers up on the altar to save the world.”

Dean’s arm tightened around Gabriel, and he wrapped the other around the grieving archangel as well, briefly petting the light brown hair. Nothing he could say could make a difference, so he said nothing, simply offering the comfort of his touch and understanding.

A strong pressure on each of their shoulders told them that Castiel had joined them, and they stayed that way for a long while until Gabriel finally shuddered and slowly straightened, his face wet with his tears. “Well,” he said, swallowing when his voice cracked, “I guess it’s time to put on the big-boy pants and deal.”

Dean stood up as well and pulled Gabriel into a quick hug before letting go. “That’s what we do best.”

“Probably going to be a little easier for you to straighten things out up there now.” The comment was directed as Castiel, who had taken a step back when they rose, and the younger angel blinked at him.

“You will not return to Heaven?”

Dean frowned, looking from one angel to the other, and Gabriel shook his head as he rubbed his face wearily.

“No, I haven’t been there in forever, and me imposing my ideas would just be... bad.” He smiled slightly as he spoke, but his eyes were still dark and wounded. “You’re going to do just fine as the sheriff up there.”

“And I’ll take care of finding ways to distract you,” Dean said. “What else is a hobby good for?” he added wryly.

“You are a hobby?” Castiel asked, sounding confused.

“According to Gabe I am.”

“Long story, Cas,” Gabriel offered.

“They always seem to be when either of you is involved.”

“You make it seem as if there’s something wrong with that.”

Castiel vanished with a rustle of wings, leaving Dean and Gabriel alone.

Despite the situation, Dean couldn’t restrain a snicker. “I think we disturb him.”

“It’s probably safer that we do.”

Dean frowned. “Safer? The dude survived the apocalypse—sort of. How are we more dangerous than that?”

Gabriel gave a mirthless laugh at that. “Just trust me, we are.”

“Uh huh.” Dean glanced down at the impression left by Raphael. “Do you, uh, need to do anything before we go?”

“Actually,” Gabriel looked back down at the valley’s floor, “give me a minute; I’m sort of rusty at this kind of thing.” He bowed his head and fell silent, speaking to the Father who he wasn’t sure was listening or not.

Dean watched him for a moment before his gaze turned inward, and he remembered how he’d felt in the moments after Sam died or disappeared or whatever it was being trapped in a cage in Hell. His hands curled into fists at his sides, and he stared blindly down at the ground.

Gabriel finally straightened, reaching back without looking and pulling Dean into a loose hug that ended with them back at the motel in New Orleans. “I think I need a drink; what about you?”

“I could drink,” Dean said with a shrug. “And it may not be Mardi Gras, but this is New Orleans. I’m sure we can find something.”

“I’m sure we can find plenty,” Gabriel assured him.

“I’m having visions of alcohol poisoning.” But Dean didn’t seem overly upset by the prospect.

“I can fix livers.” Apparently not wanting to wait any longer, Gabriel snapped his fingers, causing them to vanish and reappear in an alley off Bourbon Street.

“It’s a good thing I don’t get motion sick,” Dean muttered as he looked around, trying to place exactly where they were.

“And my moves don’t get you constipated either.”

Dean gawked at him, opening and closing his mouth, but nothing came out, and Gabriel snickered though there was still a weight of sadness in his eyes.

“C’mon, let’s get some massive Hurricanes and see where the night takes us.”

He slung his arm around Dean’s shoulders as he spoke and started him walking.

“That works for me.” Dean darted a sidelong glance at him. “And if later we happen to end up going for a walk, well, you know, I’ve never had drunken sex in an alley in New Orleans.”

“Oh really?” The archangel’s mobile lips twisted into a leer. “Well then, we’ll have to see what we can do about that.”

“I had a feeling you might be able to help with that.”

“I could help with the being drunk thing too, but drinking the booze is half the fun.”

“Damn right,” Dean agreed. “I’ll get drunk the good old-fashioned way. If you want to help, we can do body shots.”

“Mmm, tasty,” Gabriel purred as he steered Dean toward the nearest bar and through the doorway into loud, drunken mayhem.

Dean looked around at the boisterous crowd as Gabriel towed him toward the bar, and he didn’t see a lot of same-sex couples, but he figured the archangel was more than up to handling any trouble. “Tequila,” he yelled in Gabriel’s ear.

Gabriel flashed him a brilliant smile, and the music that had been thumping over the speakers instantly changed to the familiar beat of “Tequila” as they reached the bar. The bartender appeared in front of them as if by magic—or angelic intervention—and Gabriel ordered a bottle and two shot glasses.

“Don’t forget the salt and limes... unless you’re planning to provide those,” Dean said in his ear.

In answer, Gabriel nodded toward the bar where a bowl of freshly sliced lime and a shaker of salt sat beside the bottle and the two full shot glasses.

“You really are handy to have around.”

“So glad you think so,” Gabriel snorted, catching Dean’s hand and licking his wrist before holding out his own in a silent challenge, one that Dean was happy to meet. He caught hold of Gabriel’s hand and leaned in, pressing a kiss to the pulse point before dragging his tongue from wrist to elbow, tracing the blue veins visible beneath the skin.

A low-voiced growl greeted that move, and Gabriel lifted the salt shaker, spilling some of the crystals on Dean’s hand, then some on his own, all without breaking Dean’s grip on his wrist.

Using his free hand, Dean snagged the bottle and poured two shots, nudging one toward Gabriel after setting the tequila back on the bar. Without disturbing the salt Gabriel had poured, he licked the archangel’s wrist again, this time downward, ending with his tongue swirling over Gabriel’s palm.

The growl this time was distinctly hungrier, and Gabriel caught Dean’s hand, pulling it toward his mouth where he licked the salt away with a broad stroke of his tongue. He let go and tossed back the shot, then closed his lips over Dean’s, sharing the shot with him, sealing their mouths together until Dean swallowed.

Instead of reaching for a lime, Dean kissed Gabriel, his tongue pushing forward to explore the archangel’s mouth, tasting salt and tequila and Gabriel.

Gabriel’s hand slid up the back of Dean’s head, his fingers threading through the short strands, prolonging the union until Dean finally needed to breathe and Gabriel reluctantly let him. “Lime time?” he asked with a smirk.

“I think we need more tequila first.” Dean grinned at him, not caring that he was standing in the middle of a bar, his lips swollen from kissing another guy—or at least that was the way it looked—and his hips rocking lazily against the thigh pressed up between them.

Without looking, Gabriel reached for the other shot, offering it up as well as his wrist to lick again.

Dean’s smile was pure sex as he drew Gabriel’s wrist back to his lips, nibbling gently before sucking Gabriel’s thumb into his mouth.

“You’re playing with fire tonight,” Gabriel rasped, hunger darkening his voice as he crooked his thumb, dragging it against Dean’s tongue. Dean suckled on the digit a little longer before he released it with a wet pop.

“I thought I was playing with an archangel.”

“What do you think we’re made of?”

Dean’s lips slowly curved into a wicked little smile. “Am I going to get burned?”

“Seared,” Gabriel promised darkly, twisting them to press Dean against the bar and pour the tequila down his neck, following the golden trail with his lips and tongue.

Dean shuddered, spreading his legs both to make himself a little shorter and thereby easier for Gabriel to reach his throat and to let Gabe get closer, putting more pressure on the erection straining at his fly. “Good,” he panted.

The music still pulsed around them, and the crowd still drank and partied, but none of them seemed to notice the pair grinding against each other, not even when the taller man’s shirt and jacket vanished just before another shot of tequila was poured down his chest and licked away by a tongue that left trails of heat in its wake.

“Fuck,” Dean groaned, bracing his elbows on top of the bar to keep from falling to the ground, his back arching as Gabriel’s tongue circled near but never quite touched his already hard nipples.

“Mmmhmm.” The sound vibrated against Dean’s chest before Gabriel’s mouth closed around a hard nubbin, and he sucked on it at the same time he upended the bottle over Dean’s chest, the liquid streaming down toward his mouth.

Dean clutched at Gabriel’s shoulders, not sure his legs would continue to support him but not about to stop the archangel who was making his body sing.

“I like your version of body shots,” he gasped out.

“Not on all of your body yet, are they?” Gabriel growled before Dean was sprawled over the bar, all of his clothes vanished while the customers around them continued to laugh and drink.

Dean looked to the side, looking at a hot blond who didn’t see him, who had no idea that there was a naked man shivering with paroxysms of pleasure on top of the bar only inches from her elbow. “So what’re you waiting for?”

“Someone with less impulse control than I have, I love it,” Gabriel smirked, the bottle in his hand suddenly full again before it was upended over Dean’s body, his mouth following the trails the liquid made over Dean’s flesh, not missing a drop, managing to collect the last mouthful and save it to be swallowed as he took Dean’s cock into his mouth.

“Why—oh Jesus fuck!—why control it when I can enjoy it?” Dean panted, squirming on the bar, somehow not hitting anyone or knocking over any of the drinks.

Gabriel nodded around Dean’s cock before dragging his mouth off it and back, sucking on his balls, then nuzzling his way behind them to flick his tongue over Dean’s hole.

Dean cried out sharply, really hoping that whatever Gabriel was doing made them inaudible as well as invisible. Then Gabriel licked him again, and he didn’t care about anything except how to make him do it again. Apparently, Gabriel was in the wish-granting mood because his tongue slid over the tight circle of muscle again and again before pressing inside, making Dean shudder and writhe on the bar, trying to squirm closer.

The tongue pressed deeper, then vanished, and Gabriel was over him, his cock filling the space, stretching it further as he loomed over Dean, seeming larger than possible in the crazed shadows of the bar.

“Oh fuck yes,” Dean rasped, his hips arching upward and his fingers digging into Gabriel’s forearms, the archangel driving into him again and again, the muscles in his arms clenching as his fingers dug into the polished surface of the bar. Dean swung his legs up to curl them around Gabriel’s waist, opening himself even more to the almost brutal possession that had him crying his pleasure and fighting for more.

Gabriel’s features twisted as he leaned in, adjusting his thrusts so that his body dragged over Dean’s before he sealed their mouths together, muffling the cries Dean hadn’t even been aware of uttering. He matched Gabriel’s rhythm, neither asking nor giving quarter but rather demanding more each time they came together.

The lights brightened above them, casting them into stark relief before shadows descended again, jumping wildly as they moved together, their gasps and moans drowning out the music, at least in the private reality they occupied.

Dean’s hands moved shakily over Gabriel’s back, short nails scratching at the ridges of his spine as they moved downward to curve over his flexing ass, feeling his strength.

“Give it up for me, Dean,” Gabriel rasped against his mouth.

Dean’s eyes opened wide, green meeting amber as the sensations grew to be too much to contain, and a single word escaped him as his body spasmed, liquid heat spreading between them.

Gabriel groaned as contractions massaged his length, then he was coming as well, letting himself go and for the moment forget the events of the day.

“Wow,” Dean finally breathed. “Drinking with you’s a very athletic activity.”

“The drinking hasn’t even started yet.”

“Good point. We’ll have to get to that too.”

“Damn right.” Suddenly they were dressed and standing by the bar again, those around them not seeming to have noticed anything. “And then we’ll see about that alley.”

Dean wobbled slightly and started to laugh. “I’m going to be bowlegged by morning, aren’t I?”

“We drink enough, you can fuck me there.”

“Warn a guy when you’re going to say something like that,” Dean rasped, shifting uncomfortably.

“Why?”

“Because I’m too young to have a stroke.”

Gabriel looked at him closely before his lips twisted in a wry grin. “You’re perfectly healthy.”

Dean snorted. “Doesn’t mean I should be getting hard again that fast after coming that hard.”

“Poor baby. Want me to take care of that?”

Dean eyed him warily. “Take care of how?”

Gabriel held up his hand, displaying an ice cube between his thumb and forefinger.

“Fuck no!”

“Ice can be fun.”

“Not if you’re using it to make someone go soft.”

The ice cube vanished at the same time the bartender set two massive Hurricanes on the bar, smiling broadly when Gabriel handed him a bill and told him to keep the change.

“So we’re back to getting drunk?” Dean asked before taking a healthy swallow of his drink.

“Always a good goal,” Gabriel nodded, lifting his glass and draining it in one long gulp, the glass refilling before it hit the bar again.

“And a lot easier with you,” Dean chuckled, tossing back the rest of his as well, grinning when his glass refilled.

“The drinks aren’t as watered down, either.”

“Even better,” Dean said with a grin. “Though I’d have said they weren’t watered down at all.”

“No point in doing that here, is there?”

“You wouldn’t have enjoyed your shots nearly as much otherwise.”

Gabriel chuckled darkly at that. “Yes, I would have. No matter what I’m served, I get what I want.”

“Why do I suddenly feel like the fly in the spider’s parlor?” Dean tossed back another drink.

“Please, do I look like I have eight legs to you?”

Dean snickered at the mental image that conjured up. “Could have made things interesting with Kali if you did.”

The archangel’s grin turned sultry as if in memory. “You have no idea what that number of hands can do.”

Dean blinked and tossed back yet another drink. “Okay, that’s disturbingly hot.”

“It wasn’t disturbing from my end.”

“I’ll bet.” Dean eyed Gabriel curiously. “So, not that I’m saying you should go, but why are you here when you could be with her?”

“You were the one with the DVD.” Another gallon-sized glass of alcohol vanished down his throat.

“Is that the only reason you’re still here?” Dean asked.

“You went out in the snow with me.”

“I...” Dean stared and then laughed. “Okay, that makes as much sense as anything else.” He leaned over and kissed Gabriel, who licked his lips when they broke apart.

“Exactly. Nothing makes sense, welcome to the real world as Dad made it.”

Dean shrugged. “All the more reason to have fun when we can.”

“And you wonder why I’m still here.”

“Ah, so I’m fun.”

“Got it in one, Winchester.”

“Yeah, I did,” Dean said, grinning at the spot on the bar where he’d lain a short time before, Gabriel tracking his gaze and smirking in response.

“Fun and from time to time you manage to surprise me; _no one_ does that.”

“You’ve been hanging around with the wrong people then. Nearly everyone surprises the fuck out of me.”

“Including me?”

“Sometimes, but not always. Sometimes I can tell what you’re going to do.”

“And just what sometimes are those?” Gabriel downed another drink, the alcohol not seeming to affect him at all.

“Not just sex,” Dean chuckled. “When the shit’s really hitting the fan, you do what has to be done, archangel. Even if you don’t like to admit it.”

“You’re making me sound almost respectable.”

“Let’s not get carried away. That’s like calling me respectable.”

Gabriel snickered at the comparison.

“Exactly.” Dean picked up the bottle of tequila that still sat next to them and took a slug, then pressed his lips to Gabriel’s, offering him a shot in the same way the archangel had done to him earlier. The tequila should have tasted bad, especially with the amount of rum-laced drinks they had downed, but somehow it didn’t, and Gabriel’s tongue invaded Dean’s mouth to lick every bit of it away.

“Mmmm,” he murmured, not letting go of Dean.

“Uh huh,” Dean rasped, sliding his hands into the back pockets of Gabriel’s jeans to keep them pressed close together.

“So.” Gabriel’s lips brushed against Dean’s. “Wanna dance?”

“Now that sounds like fun.”

“C’mon, I know someplace better than here for that.” Gabriel grabbed his drink, noting that Dean still held the ever-full bottle of tequila, and steered him out of the bar and down the street to another bar that was blaring zydeco music.

“Fun,” Dean approved. It wasn’t his usual taste in music at all, but even he had to admit that the beat was both energetic and sensual, and he was already looking forward to dancing to it with Gabriel.

“Oh yeah.” Gabriel’s nod was tight, but his smile was wide as he downed his drink and pulled Dean onto the dance floor.

Dean let go of the bottle of tequila, not surprised when it vanished before it could hit the floor and shatter. He slid his hands back into Gabriel’s back pockets and started to move against him, smiling sensually. Gabriel mimicked the move, pressing them tightly together but somehow keeping them moving to the beat of the music, a frenzied syncopation that was almost wild.

“Not bad moves,” Dean murmured in Gabriel’s ear, barely audible above the music.

“I like music,” Gabriel breathed, “it’s one of humanity’s best inventions.”

“Huh, yeah, I guess sex can’t count as an invention. Though there are sex toys...”

“Fun things, those.”

“How did I just know you were going to say that? Hell, you were probably involved in inspiring the invention of some of them,” Dean snorted.

Gabriel only smirked and moved his hands to Dean’s hips, directing his movements as the music changed, turning rhythmic and sultry. Chuckling throatily, Dean wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s waist. One hand settled on Gabriel’s hip, and the other tugged the archangel’s shirt from his pants to slide underneath and spread over the bare skin of Gabriel’s back.

Gabriel raised his never-empty glass and downed the contents in a series of long gulps while they swayed together, the length of their bodies rubbing against each other.

“I’m already enjoying this trip to New Orleans more than any other I’ve had,” Dean said.

“So what did you hunt the other times you were here?”

Dean shrugged. “Witch, ghosts, ghouls. Pretty much every damn thing comes through this city.”

“Maybe they were just looking for a good time; it is the Big Easy.”

“I thought that was you?”

“Not denying that at all.”

“Lucky me.” Dean grinned at him, Gabriel downing another drink before causing his glass to vanish so that he could slide both hands under Dean’s shirt.

“So, what do you usually do in New Orleans?” Dean asked. “You’ve obviously been here before.”

“Whatever I can find—or whoever.”

“Sounds like fun,” Dean chuckled, rubbing against Gabriel as they danced.

“Amazing what you can get with an unlimited supply of beads.”

“Hmm, I didn’t get any beads.”

Gabriel pulled back to study him, his eyebrows arched, then suddenly Dean’s neck was weighted with beads.

Dean glanced down and laughed at the sheer number of them. “I think I’m flattered.”

“Consider it back payment since I’ve already seen your ass.”

Dean snorted. “You’ve seen a lot more than that. And you’ve done a lot more than just seen it.”

“Any more and they’ll smother you,” Gabriel pointed out.

“They don’t all have to be around my neck.”

“We’ll save that for later, or you won’t be able to walk.”

“Promises, promises.” Dean pulled Gabriel’s shirt off over his head and tossed it aside, assuming the archangel would deal with it, then grinned at him. “Mind dealing with mine? It’s kinda held down at the moment.”

Gabriel smirked, and Dean’s shirt was gone though the layers of colorful beads remained, pressed between their now bare flesh as they moved together. “Better?”

“Much,” Dean purred, lightly scratching his nails down Gabriel’s spine.

“Keep it up and you’re going to be down to your skivvies.”

“Just make sure we don’t get arrested.”

“Not up for jailhouse sex?”

“Not with some guy named Bear who’s looking for a bitch, no.”

“You really think that guy would get anywhere near you?”

That made Dean pull Gabriel into a kiss that definitely would have gotten them arrested if anyone had truly been able to see them, and suddenly they were out in a shadowed alleyway with Dean pressing Gabriel against the brick wall.

“Fuck me,” the archangel growled, sounding both hungry and dangerous.

Conveniently, the rest of their clothes had vanished in transit, so Dean was able to push even closer, his cock slotting between Gabriel’s thighs as he grasped one leg and urged it up around his waist. “With pleasure,” he rasped, biting at Gabriel’s mouth.

The archangel hitched his leg around Dean’s waist where it was joined by its twin though somehow the weight against Dean never grew any heavier. Demanding hands roved over Dean’s back and up to curve around his head as Gabriel threw his head back, baring his throat to the human.

That was an invitation Dean had no desire to turn down, and he bit at the arched column, sucking hard enough that he knew he’d leave a mark. He cupped Gabriel’s ass, gripping and pulling his cheeks apart so that when he rocked forward, the head of his cock nudged at the tight opening between them.

Gabriel twisted his body, and Dean slid into his suddenly slick hole, causing them both to groan as Gabriel opened before him, taking his whole length in one stroke.

“Damn,” Dean groaned laughingly, “you’re going to spoil me for normal men.” But he didn’t seem to mind, kissing up Gabriel’s throat until he reached the angel’s mouth and took it, Gabriel opening for him even as his arms and legs tightened, clutching at Dean, silently demanding that he move.

Dean pushed Gabriel harder against the wall, bracing him there as his hips rocked back, pulling him partially out of Gabriel before he drove deep again. One hand pressed against the rough brick of the wall, the other still holding Gabriel’s ass, and his fingertips lightly stroked the flesh stretched around his cock.

“Harder,” Gabriel rasped against Dean’s mouth, his amber eyes wide and wild as they stared into Dean’s forest-dark gaze.

Dean’s return smile was as wild as Gabriel’s gaze, and his hips somehow moved faster, drove deeper, thrust harder even as he ate at Gabriel’s mouth, devouring him. Gabriel met every stroke, his body curving to allow Dean to slam deeper into him, the slapping of their bodies echoing over the sounds of the music coming from the bars on either side of the alley.

“Fuck, you shoulda been Eros or Dionysus, not Loki,” Dean rasped.

“Why? More creative than they are, Loki was too.”

“Sex gods, Gabe.”

“Overrated.”

“Sex can never be overrated.” Dean drove into him again to emphasize his point.

“Slept with them both, trust me,” Gabriel gasped before his eyes slipped closed and he clenched down around Dean’s cock.

About to ask about Venus, Dean forgot all about her when Gabriel tightened around him, and he concentrated on the archangel. He worked a hand between them to curl around Gabriel’s cock, determined to make him come before Dean did.

Gabriel groaned and arched forward, losing contact with the wall before thumping back against it again, not seeming to notice the action as he humped against Dean’s hand. His eyes slipped closed, and his hands dug into Dean’s back as he allowed pleasure to overtake him, eclipsing everything else.

Dean watched him, enjoying knowing that he had made Gabriel lose control, and then he was groaning and pounding even harder into Gabriel as he sought his own pleasure, needing more, needing to come. Gabriel’s seed was still hot and dripping off his fist when Dean cried out and tensed, pulsing into him, Gabriel’s fingers still digging into his back, the touch almost uncomfortably warm against his skin.

“Holy shit,” Dean muttered after he caught his breath. “Who needs sex gods with you around?” He grinned at Gabriel, then frowned faintly, shifting his shoulders as he realized his back felt a little tight.

“Told you,” Gabriel murmured, relaxing back against the wall, his eyes closed, “better than they are.”

“Yes, yes, you were right and I was wrong.” Dean’s eye roll was almost audible. “You know, this brick wall is amazingly comfortable,” he observed.

“That’s because you’re leaning against me and not the wall.”

“My hands and arms are against the wall,” Dean pointed out.

“Good thing this isn’t a real alleyway then, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, being barefoot in a real one would be pretty disgusting.”

There was a flash of nothingness, and they were in their hotel room again, leaning up against the outer wall there. “It’s not like I’d let you catch anything,” Gabriel pointed out.

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t complain about it, did I?”

Gabriel finally set his feet on the ground, stretching inhumanly as he did so. “Very true, you didn’t.”

“I think I like traveling with someone who’s useful on hunts _and_ good in bed.”

“See, I am useful.”

“How did I ever survive without you?” Dean snorted and pulled Gabriel close again to kiss him.

The archangel’s laughter was sharp and hoarse. “Damned if I know.”

“I’m a damn good hunter,” Dean protested.

“That you are; no one was helping you before, and you did okay.”

“But this is more fun,” Dean admitted. “I kinda like having you around.”

“Aww, I bet you say that to all the guys who just got you off in a created alley.”

Dean chuckled. “You don’t think you’re special or anything, do you?”

Gabriel shook his head wryly at that. “Not me, not at all.”

“Just your typical, ho-hum bar pick up,” Dean agreed, nodding.

“Exactly. Now it’s time for you to get to bed.”

“When did you turn into my mother?”

“It’s late, you’re half-drunk, and it’s been a busy day; that means bed.”

“You gonna be my pillow?”

“I could do that.”

“And I could sleep,” Dean admitted.

Gabriel snapped his fingers, and they were in a surprisingly soft bed, Dean half on top of him.

“Mm, comfortable,” Dean approved, slinging an arm over Gabriel and shutting his eyes, a half smile curving his lips.

Gabriel’s smile didn’t reach his eyes though it wasn’t noticeable in the darkness. “Glad you think so, now sleep.” He touched the side of Dean’s head as he spoke, sending the man into a deep sleep, but stayed awake himself, staring at and through the ceiling into the cosmos beyond.

It was hours later before Dean woke, and he tilted his head up to meet the somber amber gaze. “Did you sleep at all?” he asked quietly, not wanting to shatter the hush of the early morning.

“No need or desire,” Gabriel answered.

“Guess I didn’t do a very good job of distracting you,” Dean said, raising one hand to curve over Gabriel’s shoulder, offering silent comfort.

“You did a good job of it, but there are some things that stay with you; you of all people should understand that.”

Dean nodded, his green eyes dark with sorrow. “I do. That’s why I wish I could have helped more.”

“I killed my brother, a brother that I had had since before the earth was formed, a brother I hadn’t seen for thousands of years; you can’t help, but you tried and I...” Gabriel sighed, his hand flexing against Dean’s back. “I appreciate that.”

Dean turned his head and pressed a kiss to Gabriel’s shoulder. “It was my pleasure. Literally,” he added with the faintest of chuckles.

“Told you, the gods and goddesses of love have nothing on me,” Gabriel said with a slight smile.

“I noticed. Not to mention that I get to survive a night with you.”

“And you aren’t pregnant.”

“Fuck no!”

Gabriel’s expression twisted into a familiar smirk. “At least I think you aren’t.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Not funny!”

Gabriel rolled them over and pressed his ear against Dean’s abdomen. “Hello,” he called, “anyone in there?”

Dean whacked the back of Gabriel’s head just as a thin voice said, “Daddy?” the sound coming from Dean’s belly.

“Gabe!”

“Mommy!”

Gabriel’s shoulders started shaking, and he finally collapsed against Dean’s legs.

“Bastard,” Dean growled, hitting him again.

“Don’t call our child that,” the archangel managed to sputter out.

“I really hate you,” Dean grumbled.

“So go take a shower and I’ll feed you, then you won’t hate me anymore.”

“It better be really good food,” Dean warned him. He yawned, sat up, and stretched, Gabriel making a choked sound when he caught sight of Dean’s back but covering it by rolling out of bed as well.

“Of course it will be good,” he sniffed.

“Uh huh. I’ll believe it when I taste it.” Dean got to his feet and padded into the bathroom, leaning into the tub to turn on the shower when something caught his eye, and he turned his head to look at the mirror. His eyes widened, and he froze in that position, still staring at the handprints on his shoulder blades.

“GABE!!!!”

“Done already?” Gabriel asked, popping his head around the doorway.

“What the fuck did you do?” Dean roared.

Gabriel’s chin went up, and he straightened, somehow seeming to fill the doorway. “I had a fucking crappy day, and I fucked up, all right? You want them gone? Fine!” He raised his hand to snap his fingers.

“Hey, hold on!” Dean backed away. “Just tell me how the hell this happened.” Much to his own surprise, Dean didn’t like the idea of Gabriel just wiping the marks away as if they’d never existed.

“Sex? Alley? Any of this ringing any bells?” Gabriel asked without lowering his hand.

“We’ve had sex before, and I didn’t end up with more marks than a Dalmatian.”

“It wasn’t quite a normal night last night.”

Dean eyed him, then glanced over his shoulder in the mirror again. “Well, at least it wasn’t my dick.”

“Good thing it was in me, then,” Gabriel mused, stepping forward and trailing a finger around the handprints, making Dean gasp sharply and a shudder run through him.

“Okay, that’s... different,” he said, his voice gone hoarse.

“Yeah? Good different or bad different?” As he spoke, Gabriel fitted his palm over the corresponding print, his other hand brushing over the scar Castiel had left on his arm.

“Oh Jesus fuck, if you keep that up, I’m going to come from just your hands on my back,” Dean rasped.

“Guess that’s good different.” The pressure against the marks didn’t ease up.

Dean moaned and leaned into Gabriel’s hands, the archangel easily taking his weight as his fingers flexed against Dean’s back and arm.

“You’re going to play with this, aren’t you?” Dean groaned.

“What? Your back? How you react? Damn right.”

“You’re going to kill me, but what a way to go.” Dean arched his back, making Gabriel’s fingers press harder against the marks.

Gabriel froze. “No killing, not today,” he growled.

“Sorry,” Dean whispered, pulling Gabriel into a kiss while continuing to rub against his hands. Gabriel adjusted their stance so Dean was in his arms, both hands pressed against the scars though the kiss was gentle, almost tender. Dean shivered, pleasure coursing through him but remaining at a steady level, not rising toward a climax, and he curled his arms around Gabriel, holding on to him.

“S’okay,” Gabriel murmured, not moving.

“Gabe,” Dean whispered, his eyes closing as he allowed himself to trust Gabriel to hold him.

“I’ve got you,” Gabriel murmured, bowing his head to rest his forehead against Dean’s shoulder, his fingers flexing lightly against Dean’s back.

“Yeah, you do,” Dean replied simply, Gabriel sighing in pleasure at the admission as he nuzzled the side of Dean’s neck. “God, what you do to me,” Dean moaned, his eyes half closed as he let himself relax and accept the slow pace.

“I’m not Dad,” Gabriel murmured. “And I don’t think you’d want Him doing this to you.”

The sound Dean made was indescribable but eloquent of his disgust, and Gabriel chuckled before nibbling on the taut skin under his mouth. “My sentiments exactly.”

“I didn’t need to be thinking of that,” Dean grumbled even as he leaned his cheek against Gabriel’s head, nuzzling him and enjoying the sensation of Gabriel’s mouth on him at the same time.

“How about you think about this instead?” The archangel’s fingers traced over the handprints on Dean’s back, the touch light but firm, sliding over the scarred tissue and seeming to drag over Dean’s soul.

Dean shuddered, his back arching and his head falling back as Gabriel laid claim to every part of his being, and Dean let him, wanting the archangel more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

“Gabe!” The word somehow managed to be a whisper and a scream at the same time, and it held everything that Dean felt as he came, sensation pouring through him in an unending stream of pleasure and unadulterated joy.

Gabriel wallowed in the sensation, supporting Dean while hot tears slipped from his eyes to spill over the human man’s skin.

Dean curled into Gabriel’s embrace, allowing the angel to support him as he shook through his climax, feeling completely vulnerable and completely safe at one and the same time. He slowly relaxed against Gabriel, holding on tightly. The archangel pressed a kiss against Dean’s shoulder but didn’t let him go, seeming to be content to hold him until he wanted to move.

“I’m glad you came back,” Dean whispered, finally raising his head to meet Gabriel’s gaze.

“Me too.”

“And, uh, the marks can stay.”

Gabriel’s smile at that remark was open and sunny, holding nothing of the wry sarcasm it usually did. “Thank you.”

“After what just happened, I think I should be thanking you.”

“For what, laying my hands on you?” A corner of Gabriel’s mouth quirked upward in a small smile as he spoke.

“Okay, that sounds seriously wrong, but... yeah.” Dean shrugged slightly, straightening up but keeping his arms looped around Gabriel’s waist.

“Doing something to make someone feel good is... nice.”

“It doesn’t hurt that it was damn hot too.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel chuckled, “that too. Now go take a shower.”

“Bossy.” Dean gave him a quick kiss before finally letting go and padding off to the bathroom, Gabriel waiting all of three minutes before he joined him.

END


End file.
